People with chronic periodontitis have low levels of the protective antioxidant glutathione, reported researchers in the December issue of Molecular Pathology.
Researchers from the United Kingdom and the United States, led by Dr. Iain Chapple of the University of Birmingham in England, collected plasma and gingival crevicular fluid, or GCF, from 10 patients with chronic periodontitis and 10 control subjects. They then determined the concentrations of reduced and oxidized glutathione using high-performance liquid chromatography.
Researchers found that the test subjects’ plasma and GCF had lower mean total antioxidant capacity compared with that of the control subjects. They also found that control subjects’ GCF contained high mean concentrations of glutathione. Test subjects’ GCF contained significantly lower amounts of glutathione.
The research team found similar levels of the antioxidants cysteamine and cysteine in the control and test subjects’ plasma and GCF.
Researchers concluded that glutathione might be beneficial when used as a supplement to help prevent chronic periodontitis and might be able to assist in the healing process.
